Shouldn't our local boards represent our community?

This is in reference to the Fallbrook Firefighters Association’s endorsement and subsequent, and rather sudden, rescission of support for Jeff Egkan and Ross Pike:

I was always under the impression that governing board members were there to serve the community. Endorsements by Public Employee Unions do not override that fundamental concept, that supervisory boards serve the public interest, and have a fiduciary responsibility to the community.

An endorsement from a public employee union is typically a statement by the union that their endorsee is someone that they can have good, effective communication with, not someone who is there simply to do the union's bidding. From reading the back and forth in some of the other replies, on Friends of Fallbrook, it appears that the communication between the firefighters and their endorsees was good up until after the vote on the terms of the contract (a significant raise)

We need board members who will not only keep the lines of communication open with all concerned parties, but more importantly balance the needs of the employees with the needs of the community. That would seem to be what Jeff and Ross were doing and will continue to do if they are re-elected.

Furthermore, Jeff’s ongoing advocacy for the firefighters is obvious through his many posts on their behalf. While I have great admiration for the job our firefighters and emergency personnel do in this community, for them to rescind their endorsements over this issue seems counterproductive for the community in the long run.

I urge community members in those areas represented by Jeff and Ross to vote based upon the original endorsement by the Firefighters Association. They both will continue to represent their communities on the Board and are clearly not beholden to any quid pro quo with the Association.

Nancy Cavanaugh